§ 5001. Licensed private career schools. 1. Schools required to be
licensed. No private school which charges tuition or fees related to
instruction and which is not exempted hereunder shall be operated by any
person or persons, firm, corporation, or private organization for the
purpose of teaching or giving instruction in any subject or subjects,
unless it is licensed by the department. As used in this article:

a. "licensed private career school" or "licensed private school" shall
mean any entity offering to instruct or teach any subject by any plan or
method including written, visual or audio-visual methods, and shall
include any institution licensed or registered as a registered business
school or computer training facility on the effective date of chapter
three hundred eighty-one of the laws of two thousand twelve. Following
such effective date, there shall be no distinction between institutions
previously defined as "registered business schools" or "computer
training facilities" and other licensed private schools, and any
reference in law to a registered business school or computer training
facility shall be deemed a reference to a licensed private career
school. Institutions holding a valid business school registration on
such effective date, including computer-training facilities, shall have
such registrations replaced by the commissioner, at no cost, with
licenses valid until the expiration date listed on such previous
registration;

b. "certified English as a second language school" or "certified ESL
school" shall mean a language school conducted for-profit which provides
instruction in English as a second language and which accepts no public
funds and is certified pursuant to paragraph f of subdivision four of
this section; and

c. "online education marketplace" shall mean a website or other
internet-based online technology tool with which a licensed private
career school or certified ESL school contracts for marketing or
advertising services, or services in connection with the collection of
tuition and/or fees, to the extent authorized in subdivision three of
section five thousand four of this article.

2. Exempt schools. The following schools are exempted from the
licensing requirement of this section:

a. institutions authorized to confer degrees in this state;

b. schools providing kindergarten, nursery, elementary or secondary
education, except schools conducted for profit which provide instruction
in English as a second language or preparation for high school
equivalency examinations to out-of-school youth or adults;

c. schools operated by governmental agencies or authorities;

d. schools which engage exclusively in training of students with
disabilities as defined in section forty-four hundred one of this
chapter;

e. schools conducted on a not-for-profit basis by firms or
organizations for the training of their own employees only, provided
that such instruction is offered at no charge to such employees, or by a
fraternal society or benevolent order for its members or their immediate
relatives only;

f. schools which provide instruction in the following subjects only:
religion, dancing, music, painting, drawing, sculpture, poetry, dramatic
art, languages, reading comprehension, mathematics, recreation, yoga,
martial arts, pilates and athletics, including the training of students
to teach such subjects, provided, however, that schools conducted for
the purpose of training personal trainers shall be excluded from this
exemption and shall be required to obtain licensure;

g. schools in which the course of instruction is licensed, registered
or approved under any other section of this chapter or by any other
department or agency of the state;

h. schools which provide instruction designed solely for giving flight
training and/or related ground school instruction;

i. schools in which instruction designed solely to prepare applicants
for admission to professional licensing examinations administered by the
department pursuant to title eight of this chapter, and applicants for
examination for admission to the practice of law;

j. schools which offer continuing education courses exclusively for
individuals licensed by the department pursuant to title eight of this
chapter and for individuals admitted to the practice of law;

k. schools which provide instruction given exclusively to employees of
a person or organization which has contracted with another person or
organization to provide such instruction at no cost to the employees;

l. conferences, trade shows, workshops, seminars, institutes or
courses of study offered and sponsored either jointly or individually by
recognized trade, business or professional organizations for the benefit
of their membership;

m. schools that limit their total conferences, trade shows, workshops,
seminars, institutes or other course offerings to no more than twice in
one calendar year with each of those offerings for no more than five
days;

n. schools which provide instruction exclusively to persons employed
full-time or part-time in the field in which instruction is being
offered, where the instruction is provided to meet continuing education
standards required for professional licensure as defined by law in this
state;

o. schools in candidacy status pursuant to subparagraph (iv) of
paragraph b of subdivision four of this section; and

p. schools which provide instruction in photography exclusively for
non-occupational purposes.

2-a. Schools exempted pursuant to subdivision two of this section may
waive such exemption and apply for a license; provided, however, that
the review of such applications shall be left to the discretion of the
commissioner.

2-b. Programs offered by licensed private career schools to employees
of a person or organization which has contracted with another person or
organization to provide such instruction at no cost to the employees
shall be exempt from the requirements of this article, provided that the
following requirements are met:

a. Only employees of the employer for which the program is being
offered may enroll in classes that make up the program.

b. Certificates or diplomas awarded to students in the program may not
reference in any way the department.

c. Prior to the commencement of the program, such schools shall submit
to the department a disclosure form, prescribed by the commissioner,
copies of which shall be provided to all students in such exempt
program, which shall include but not be limited to the following
information:

(i) a description of the location and time period in which the program
will be offered;

(ii) a statement that the students enrolled in the program shall not
be subject to any tuition liability for the program, even if such
students do not complete the program;

(iii) a statement that the program being provided to the employer has
not been approved by the department and is not under the department's
jurisdiction and that the students in the program have been advised of
the fact; and

(iv) the signatures of the school director or owner of the school and
the representative of the employer for which the program is being
offered certifying the accuracy of the statements on the form.

d. Any additional student openings in a program deemed exempt by the
department may be made available to students not affiliated with the
employer on the condition that such students execute a disclosure form
as prescribed in paragraph c of this subdivision. Such admitted students
shall only constitute up to ten percent of the exempt program's total
capacity.

4. Application, renewal application and application fees. a.
Application and renewal application for a license as a private career
school required by the commissioner shall be filed on forms prescribed
and provided by the department. Except as provided in subparagraph (iii)
of paragraph e of this subdivision, each renewal application for a
private career school licensed pursuant to this section shall include an
audited financial statement audited according to generally accepted
auditing standards by an independent certified public accountant or an
independent public accountant and statistical reports certified by the
owner or operator of the school, as required by the commissioner;
provided, however, that the commissioner shall accept a copy of a
current financial statement previously filed by a school with any other
governmental agency in compliance with the provisions of any federal or
state laws, or rules or regulations if such statement contains all of
the information required under this subdivision and conforms to this
subdivision's requirements of auditing, review and certification. Any
required audit of the financial statement shall be a condition of
licensure and shall be paid for by the school, and the results of the
audit shall be forwarded to the commissioner. Applications not
accompanied by the audits and reports required pursuant to this
subdivision shall not be considered for approval by the commissioner.
Initial applications shall be accompanied by financial reports as
required by the commissioner. The applicant shall receive a written
approval or denial together with the reasons for a denial of such
application.

b. (i) An initial license issued pursuant to the provisions of this
article shall be valid for a period of two years. A renewal of license
issued pursuant to the provisions of this article shall be valid for a
period of four years.

(ii) Every applicant and renewal applicant shall pay to the department
a nonrefundable, nontransferable application fee. The initial
application fee for new schools shall be five thousand dollars, of which
three thousand dollars shall accrue to the credit of the proprietary
vocational school supervision account and two thousand dollars shall
accrue to the tuition reimbursement account. For additional licensed
locations of currently operating schools, the application fee shall be
two thousand five hundred dollars, which shall accrue to the credit of
the proprietary vocational school supervision account. For renewal
applications, the fee shall be based on gross annual tuition income as
determined by the annual financial statements required in paragraph a of
this subdivision for the most recent school fiscal year, according to
the following schedule:

GROSS ANNUAL TUITION INCOME FEE

0-$199,999 $ 750.00

$200,000-$499,999 $ 1,500.00

$500,000-$999,999 $ 2,225.00

$1,000,000-$4,999,999 $ 4,500.00

$5,000,000-$9,999,999 $ 9,000.00

$10,000,000 or above $18,000.00

Such renewal fees shall accrue to the credit of the proprietary
vocational school supervision account. If the evaluation of a particular
course or facility requires the services of an expert not employed by
the department, the department shall retain such expert and the school
shall reimburse the department for the reasonable cost of such services.

(iii) Each school shall display, near the entrance to the school, the
license which has been issued to it. Such authorization shall be
displayed only during the period of its validity.

c. An application for renewal of any license shall be submitted at
least one hundred twenty days prior to the expiration date of the
current authorization to operate accompanied by the nonrefundable
application fee and such certified statistical reports and annual
financial statements required pursuant to this subdivision.

d. When complete and timely application has been made for renewal of
any license, the school shall receive a written approval or denial,
together with the reasons for denial of renewal, from the commissioner
no less than thirty days prior to the date such license expires.

e. Financial statements and statistical reports. (i) Licensed private
career schools and candidate schools shall submit such certified
statistical reports and annual financial statements as required by the
commissioner. The commissioner may require audited statistical reports
upon a determination that a school has provided false or inaccurate
certified statistical reports. The financial statements shall be based
on the fiscal year of the school and shall also include an itemized
account of tuition refunds due and owing to past or presently enrolled
students. Statistical reports shall include, but not be limited to,
enrollment, completion and placement data. The commissioner shall use
such financial statements and statistical reports submitted for the
purposes of licensure of schools, establishing fees or assessments
pursuant to this article and determining standards pursuant to paragraph
b of subdivision five of section five thousand two of this article. The
attorney general, the comptroller and the president of the higher
education services corporation shall have access to this information
when it is necessary to perform their duties as required by state law.

(ii) Any school which received five hundred thousand dollars or more
in gross tuition in a school fiscal year shall be required to submit to
the commissioner an annual audited financial statement prepared in
accordance with generally accepted accounting principles for that fiscal
year. In addition, any school which has a gross tuition of less than
five hundred thousand dollars in a school fiscal year but whose combined
state and federal student financial aid in such year equals one hundred
thousand dollars or more shall also submit an annual audited financial
statement to the commissioner for that fiscal year.

(iii) Schools whose gross tuition is less than five hundred thousand
dollars in a school fiscal year and which receive less than one hundred
thousand dollars in state and federal student financial aid in a school
fiscal year shall file with the commissioner an unaudited financial
statement in a format prescribed by the commissioner, provided, however,
that any such school shall file an audited financial statement the
fiscal year after a reviewed financial statement is submitted. For such
schools, audited financial statements are required every two years, at
minimum, with reviewed financial statements allowed during the alternate
year. Upon a determination by the commissioner that a school has
submitted false or inaccurate statements or that a significant,
unsubstantiated decline in gross tuition has occurred, the commissioner
may require any such school to file an audited financial statement
pursuant to this paragraph even during alternate years when reviewed
statements would ordinarily be allowed.

f. Alternate licensing provision. The commissioner shall issue
regulations which define alternate licensing or certification
requirements for the following:

(1) correspondence schools in which all approved programs and courses
are under three hundred hours;

(2) schools which are eligible for exemption under this section but
which elect to be licensed;

(3) non-profit schools exempt from taxation under section 501(c)(3) of
the internal revenue code whose programs are funded entirely through
donations from individuals or philanthropic organizations, or
endowments, and interest accrued thereon; and

(4) language schools conducted for-profit which provide instruction in
English as a second language and which accept no public funds.

5. Required disclosure for licensure. a. The commissioner shall
require that each applicant for a license for the operation of a private
career school disclose the following information:

(1) Whether the applicant, or any corporation, partnership,
association or organization or person holding an ownership or control
interest in such school, or any employee responsible in a supervisory
capacity for the administration of student funds or governmental funds,
has been convicted of a crime defined in this article, or any other
crime involving the operation of any educational or training program,
or, in connection with the operation of any such program, a crime
involving the unlawful acquisition, use, payment or expenditure of
educational or training program funds; and

(2) Whether the applicant, or any corporation, partnership,
association or organization or person holding an ownership or control
interest in such school, or any employee responsible in a supervisory
capacity for the administration of student funds or governmental funds
has been convicted:

(A) in this state of any of the following felonies defined in the
penal law: bribery involving public servants; commercial bribery;
perjury in the second degree; rewarding official misconduct; larceny, in
connection with the provision of services or involving the theft of
governmental funds; offering a false instrument for filing, falsifying
business records; tampering with public records; criminal usury; scheme
to defraud; or defrauding the government; or

(B) in any other jurisdiction of an offense which is substantially
similar to any of the felonies defined in clause (A) of this
subparagraph and for which a sentence to a term of imprisonment in
excess of one year was authorized and is authorized in this state
regardless of whether such sentence was imposed; and

(3) Whether the applicant, or any corporation, partnership,
association or organization or person holding an ownership or control
interest in such school, or any employee responsible in a supervisory
capacity for the administration of student funds or governmental funds,
has been finally determined in any administrative or civil proceeding to
have committed a violation of any provision of this article or any rules
and regulations promulgated pursuant thereto, or any related order or
determination of the commissioner, or of any similar statute, rule,
regulation, order or determination of another jurisdiction pertaining to
the licensure and operation of any educational or training program; and

(4) Whether any school owned or operated by the applicant closed or
ceased operation and, if so, whether at the time of the closing the
applicant was subject to a pending disciplinary action, disallowance,
fine or other penalty and whether it owed refunds to any government
agency or students.

b. No application for any license pursuant to this article shall be
denied by reason of disclosure pursuant to this subdivision of the
applicant, or any corporation, partnership, association or organization
or person holding an ownership or control interest in such school, or
any employee responsible in a supervisory capacity for the
administration of student funds or governmental funds unless the
commissioner makes a written determination that there is a direct
relationship between one or more of such previous offenses and the
license sought, or that issuance of the license would create an
unreasonable risk to property or to the safety, education or welfare of
specific individuals or the general public. In making such
determination, the commissioner shall be guided by the factors set forth
in section seven hundred fifty-three of the correction law. For purposes
of this subdivision, "ownership or control interest" means: with respect
to a school that is organized as or owned by a corporation, a position
as an officer or director of such corporation; or, with respect to a
school that is organized as or owned by a partnership, a position as a
partner; or any other interest totaling ten percent or more, whether
direct or indirect, in the total equity or assets of such school.

c. The commissioner may deny, suspend, revoke or decline to renew any
license: (1) if the significance of the convictions or administrative
violations warrant such action; (2) if the commissioner determines that
a school did not make any disclosure required by this subdivision; or
(3) if the commissioner determines that a school's financial condition
may result in the interruption or cessation of instruction or jeopardize
student tuition funds.

6. If, during the period for which a license is granted, the
commissioner determines that a school's financial condition may result
in the interruption or cessation of instruction or jeopardize student
tuition funds, the commissioner may, upon notice to the school, place
the school on probation for a period of no more than one year, during
which time the school and the department must make efforts to resolve
the problems at the school. The school shall submit a report on its
financial condition to the commissioner within the time prescribed by
the commissioner. Such report shall be in the form and shall include
content prescribed by the commissioner and shall be reviewed by the
commissioner to determine the school's financial viability. The
commissioner may suspend or revoke the school's license, as well as
require the cessation of student enrollment, upon a determination that
the school's financial condition continues to threaten its ability to
educate students and/or the student tuition funds. Alternatives for the
school to demonstrate a fiscally sound operation may include securing
and maintaining a performance bond, payable to the commissioner, in an
appropriate amount to eliminate any liability to the tuition
reimbursement account should the school cease operation, limiting the
collection of tuition funds until each student completes the program of
study, or other means acceptable to the commissioner. If no resolution
can be attained, a hearing, pursuant to subdivisions two and three of
section five thousand three of this article will be scheduled. Such
probation may include additional monitoring, inspections, limitations on
enrollment, teaching out some or all of a school's present students or
temporary cessation of instruction.

7. No license granted under this section shall be transferable or
assignable without the approval of the commissioner. Upon transfer or
assignment of any interest totaling twenty-five percent or more, whether
direct or indirect, in the total equity or assets of a school, such
school shall be deemed a new school required to submit a new school
application and obtain a new license pursuant to this article.
Provided, however, that upon such a substantial change in interest, the
previous school license shall remain in effect until the new license is
issued or denied or the previous license expires or is revoked,
whichever occurs first.

8. No licensed school shall discontinue operation or surrender its
license unless thirty days written notice of its intention to do so and
a plan for maintenance of safe keeping of the records of the school is
provided to the commissioner. However, upon good cause shown, the
commissioner may waive the thirty days notice requirement.

9. Annual supervision fund and tuition reimbursement account
assessment. a. The commissioner shall annually assess each school a
total percentage of that school's gross tuition pursuant to subdivision
three of section five thousand two of this article, as determined by the
annual audited financial statement required by this article. This
assessment shall be based upon each school's gross tuition from the
previous year, and shall be payable to the commissioner in equal
quarterly installments which shall be due on June first, September
first, December first and March first.

b. (i) Such annualized assessment shall be one percent for schools
which have paid less than sixteen quarters of assessments, but such
annual assessment shall not fall below five hundred dollars.

(ii) Such annualized assessment shall be eight-tenths of one percent
for schools which have paid sixteen or more quarters of assessments, but
such annual assessment shall not fall below five hundred dollars.

c. (i) Of the total assessment provided for herein, five-tenths of one
percent shall accrue to the credit of the tuition reimbursement account
pursuant to section five thousand seven of this article for those
schools which have paid less than sixteen quarters of assessments. Of
the total assessment provided for schools which have paid sixteen or
more quarters of assessments, three-tenths of one percent shall accrue
to the credit of the tuition reimbursement account pursuant to section
five thousand seven of this article. For schools paying the minimum
five hundred dollars annual assessment, none shall accrue to the tuition
reimbursement account.

(ii) The balance of the total assessment provided for herein shall be
dedicated to fund the department's supervision and regulation of
licensed private schools pursuant to an annual appropriation and an
annual plan of expenditure prepared by the commissioner and approved by
the director of the budget.

d. Payments made within thirty days following the due date shall be
subject to interest at one percent above the prevailing prime rate.
Thereafter, late payments may result in suspension of licensure by the
commissioner. Payments required by this subdivision shall be considered
a condition of licensure.